How much longer can we survive as a nation?

How much longer can we survive as a nation?By Uche IgweIt is yet another October 1st for my country men and women to roll out drums tocelebrate fifty one years of the birth of the nation called Nigeria. If we canapproach this ritual with any sincerity of purpose, we must collectively admit thatonly the days of the civil war in the late sixties can rival the mood of Nigeria andNigerians. Our country has been severely fractured by preponderant conflict, ourdemocracy has cost us so much but is yet to deliver anything close to goodgovernance, our roads are death traps, our hospitals are expressways tomortuaries, our infrastructure have decayed progressively and our institutionsare failing. Our population has become almost completely polarized by ethnicityand religion, our political elite revel in unbridled corruption, our national directionis in a continuous flux and our citizens are desperate and desolate.

Someone once described Nigeria as “an amorphous amalgam of individuals busypretending to be a people”. I agree. Others criticize the amalgamation action-that hasty decision that brought together all the tribes that make up Nigeria forcolonial convenience. That experiment did not work as it is so clear that evenafter fifty one years of independence, it has only managed to producenationalities but not yet a nation. The fastest route to increased insight into thecomplex contentions of Nigerianess is in a deeper understanding of herambiguous social constructions and nebulous ethnic atomization. Whereveryou see a Nigerian, he prefers to see himself as Ibo, Edo, Yourba, Hausa, Ijaw etcbefore ever being anything Nigerian. It is an identity of convenience - a garmentthat we wear for reasons that are mundane and never inspired anything patriotic.Our inter-tribal linkages are mere artificial alliances, short-lived and often coitusinterruptus!

Our so called democratic resilience is sustained by our addiction to primitivedistributional politics. It is my contention that the life span of the Nigerian nationis intricately intertwined to the flow of oil revenue. I strongly doubt if ourpretentious claim to any form of national cohesion will last us ten years after theoil wells in the Niger Delta dry up. Those tiny and loose threads that hold ustogether will soon give way as soon as the reasons that inspire thecongregational plundering by our vampire elite disappear. At that point, historywill expose those who have been drumming the violent dances in the dark for ourunemployed, disgruntled and ever ready young dancers during the day. They arebeneficiaries of the conflict economy. In exchange for the bombs and thegrenades they procure with stolen public funds, they are rewarded with juicycommittee positions and they gather around the table for regular pontifications.They cannot tell the truth because it will keep them out of relevance.

Impunity and lack of political accountability has led to reckless (mis)appropriation of public resources meant for the delivery of public good. Publicoffice holders convert public funds given to them on trust into private dynasties toservice their greed and profligacy. This has led to the complete collapse of thetrust that a responsible citizenry will bestow on a responsive government. EveryNigerian leader since independence has sermonized about development while intheir hearts they conspire and conjure remote justifications for taking the countryto the path of national shame and deceit. Successive regimes, whether they bedemocrats or despots, have repeatedly betrayed the hopes of the citizens. Cutting corners to fill protruding pockets have been elevated to a state policy asboth Directors General and even office messengers met each other in thebusiness of betrayal of any form of public trust at their disposal. The civil servicehas become parasitic to the state and every bureaucrat is patiently waiting forhis or her turn to loot. Our private sector remains a mere conduit for furtheringpublic sector decadence. And the vicious circle continues.It is a language that everyone understands as even those whose duty it is topreserve and protect the state have lost the inspiration to do so; because theyknow the Nigerian state is non-existent. The little national ray of hope we had,came from our vibrant media and energetic civil society. As a collective, theywere steadfast in confronting military dictatorships until democracy came topass. Sadly, many of them have swallowed several forms of democraticsedatives and have turned 360 degrees to divert their enormous energies andtalents to become supportive liars and propagandists for the same politicalhyenas they once criticized. Nigerian best brains are excelling in other countrieswhere there is stability and rule of law. Our education sector is lying prostrate.Our parents now dream of how to pay expensive school fees in countries likeUnited Kingdom, Malaysia, South Africa and even Ghana. These are goodreasons for the same bureaucrats to justify more looting and capital flight. Ourgreen passports have become invitations for high level alertness at everyinternational airport we visit. We are now classified alongside failing states likeAfghanistan, Somalia etc. At 51 I see the shell of a cursed giant with oil flowingfrom her veins. I see political viruses and hypocritical partners; all positioning toinsert a piercing and sucking device to take a share. I see a growing vampireelite and an irresponsive citizenry who are aloof and ever willing to turn to anotherdirection or even take other citizenships as soon as the blood meal is over.Whatever will make us great whenever must purge us of these backward andprimordial tendencies. We must tell the truth about our mistakes and genuinelytake collective remedial steps. We must eschew divisive tendencies and see ourethnicity only as an accident of fate and not a call to build walls of politicalantagonism and oppressive fiefdoms. We must recalibrate the institutions in ourpublic service and courageously eliminate all the reasons that have made themineffective so far. We must not wait to be told that oil is a non-renewableresource that will soon dry up and so we must diversify our economy. We mustredefine our value for the sanctity of life and rethink whatever reasons we haveused to hitherto justify taking the lives of fellow citizens in the crude pursuit ofambition. This is a time to allow for our maturation to nationhood and deliberatelypermit this manifest in our daily conduct of national affairs. At 51, we need tourgently adopt both a proactive and preventive attitude to avoid that frighteningpossibility starring us in the face. A national epitaph boldly written in bloody ink: Here lies the remains of a nation that never was!

Uche Igwe wrote from Africa Studies Program Johns Hopkins University (SAIS)Washington DC. He can be reached on ucheigwe@gmail.com